


Hear Me Out

by dolly_milk



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, ポケモンマスターズ | Pokemon Masters
Genre: Blind Character, Character Study, Original Character(s), POV Third Person, POV Third Person Omniscient, Pokemon Coordinators, Talking Pokemon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:27:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23064694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dolly_milk/pseuds/dolly_milk
Summary: Hazel, a confident Pokemon Coordinator decides to take a change of pace with Contests and travels to Pasio. Wanting to familiarize himself with the rules of the Pokemon Masters League as well as socialize with new trainers, he'll have to maintain a patient demeanour for how others may treat him differently because of his blindness.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	Hear Me Out

You would think crowds would be intimidating- or busy streets anyways. The way people push and shove, while not meaning to: it’s unpleasant. The overload of several different conversations at once, with no context, drowning your ears. The benefit of nothing when losing track of a friend in a crowd too. 

But that didn’t bother Hazel much. An eccentric fellow like himself was used to dealing with something like this all the time. Crowds of fans, crowds of events, especially when travelling somewhere new- for anyone that was as busy as he was, being brushed and pushed by a plethora of people wasn’t really a problem. 

A few others gave him insight that it might be a problem though, after hearing he decided to join the uproar of the Pokemon Masters League in Pasio. For champions and popular house trainers, the island was an epicentre for fans or paparazzis to gather- or bother more so. While he appreciated the warnings of his friends, his manager- or whoever he chuckled and clarified Pokemon Coordinators weren’t as popular outside the scope of their work. Sure people acknowledge and adore Coordinators like Hazel across many regions- but he figured he wouldn’t be the centre of spotlight on Pasio. After all, most of the fans there gather for trainers of the classic battle style. 

Or so he thought? After spending a day in Centra City, the young brunette came to a quick realization that the League’s competition strictly used the triple battle format. He didn’t even know you were allowed to build up a team with others for the league and figured the competition was a one on one downstream until the last contender one. 

That’s what he imagined anyways when listening to his TV- or recalled? Maybe he missed the obvious point a lot of people made because he was confident that he had paid attention to the broadcaster describing predictions for this tournament. But the only thing that burned in the back of his mind was hearing a lot of yelling from the creator of the artificial island. Spiels about how he created this whole thing to prove a point how he’s the best of the best. Yeah, it was pretty funny so that probably overrode any other context for Hazel. 

But now that he’s here- he needed context. Is it mandatory to team up with others now? How many? And is it just the Prince that wants to fight against a team? Is it a ‘want thing’ or maybe a personal challenge for him? Hazel really needed to figure this out. Nonetheless, he didn’t come here alone and he had his whole team to help. Petting the zubat on his shoulder, he knew he will always have his best friend Koa at his side. 

“Well, what do you think we should do- chief? Actually get a hold on what we need to do- or..” He snapped his finger “get something to bite.” 

His zubat chittered _“Knowing you, if I gave you the window to get off topic we’ll never get anything done today. Let’s find someone who knows what they’re doing-”_  
  
“Well I know that much, but who do you have in mind? Some staff at the Pokemon Centre? A borderline scary tourist guide that’s too optimistic for their own work?” Hazel smirked, enjoying his own unapparent joke. “-or maybe now’s the best time to actually get to-” 

Before Hazel could finish his response, someone interrupted him. Turning his head to the direction of the voice he raised his eyebrow. 

“Excuse me-” A woman with overly-fragrant perfume prompted. A high-pitched voice with a tone that was friendly enough, Hazel figured. “Are you conversing to your little zubat there?” 

“...yeah?” Hazel answered slowly. He wasn’t sure where this was going. 

“How do you know what it’s saying?” She prompted. 

He wasn’t sure if that was out of admiration, confusion or something more critical. His ears did pick up on the woman describing his partner in crime as an ‘it’, but he didn’t want to jump to anything yet. 

“I have a bond with my Pokemon, Miss. It’s as simple as that.” He gave a polite smile, confident he was facing the right direction towards her. 

“Well, I like to imagine I do too with my Pokemon, but I can only ever get a rough idea what my little darlings want or need.” She tapped her chin, questioning. 

Hazel heard a chitter from a Kirlia beside her. 

“I mean maybe you need to strengthen your bond with them? Because Koa and I can converse perfectly well” He responded and his zubat snickered at his bluntness. 

“Oh!” The woman’s voice riled up, seemingly offended. He started to hear her foot tapping, it sounded like she was hearing tall heels. 

“What?” He asked innocently. 

“So you think you’re better than us trainers that can’t understand Pokemon! You know, as far as I’m aware you’re having a one-sided conversation with that zubat of yours.” 

“Okay then, if I was why would I need to prove that to you? I don’t even know you” He stated. 

“Well!” She raised her voice once more before both him and this woman were interrupted by a third party. 

“What seems to be the matter here?” A stern, but comfortable voice picked up. It sounded like multiple uniform steps so they were most likely accompanied. Not by the sound of Pokemon but other people. Yikes, this isn’t what Hazel meant for needing to meet other people.

“Oh, nothing amongst your concern” The women hissed sourly, in a poor attempt to save her formality. “This man here just has the audacity to act snarky when I simply wanted to spark a conversation.”

“Listen I really don’t have time for this? Sorry for-- existing?” Hazel gave a half-assed joke but really didn’t want to stress a situation that he didn’t provoke in the first place. Wanting to dip out of this, his feet moved faster than his ability to snap his fingers and figure what was in his surroundings he bumped right into the man that interrupted. “Oops- sorry about that” He patted them, apologetically. He felt a soft cotton button up and a tie… wait. He patted the surface again. 

“Uhm dude, are you wearing two ties?” He asked without thinking first, and continued to pat the shirt humorously. It was only an afterthought he realized that people don’t like their space bubbles being popped but he’s doing it anyways. 

Everyone else in the area gave a shared look before focusing back onto Hazel. 

“No it’s just one, I wear it a certain style though.” The man gave a smirk. “Should I ask again what was the issue?” He left that to be an open question to either the annoyed-woman or him. 

“Ohh aha- nothing dire” The woman’s voice wavered, it seemed like her hostility faded. “I was just asking the young man how he was able to converse with his little zubat there” She finally caved into some kind of context, but Hazel bit his cheek picking up on the obvious shift. 

“Well if he hasn’t already told you, some trainers and Pokemon have-” 

“No it was definitely more than that, she was hostile.” Hazel perked up. “-And now you’re not so that’s interesting.” 

“No no no! Not at all- I would never- I was simply-” She waved her hands frantically so that he could feel a slight breeze to his face. Before he knew it he felt the sound of footsteps distancing from him. The woman’s Kirlia chittered once more and spoke to Hazel, apologizing for their trainers demeanor.

To defuse the situation, a new voice spoke up and tapped on Hazel’s shoulder. “Wait I don’t think I’ve met you before- are you new?” 

“Yeah, I just arrived today actually” He rubbed the back of his neck, not sure if the overly friendliness was to cover the awkward situation or just how they were. 

“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you! The names Rosa- and the guy with the ‘two ties’ you bumped into is Cheren- we’re both competing in the PML together.” She gently took Hazel’s hand and started shaking them. 

“The names Hazel-” he cleared his throat, still confused at the sudden transition of conversations. 

“That’s a really fitting name for you” Rosa complimented. 

“Are you by chance a new trainer?” Cheren perked up. Running down a process of elimination, most popular contenders that came here were champions, elite four members or trainers that completed 8 badges- and he wasn’t familiarized with anyone that looked like him. Additionally, what it seemed here was that Hazel’s ace was a zubat. A common beginner’s pokemon. Not that there was anything wrong with that, he just happened to notice the likelihood of it. 

“I mean I’m definitely new here on Pasio but not ‘new’ new. I’ve definitely been training for years now since I was a kid. You guys sound confident so I imagine you’re like veteran trainers or something of that type.” 

Cheren nodded and resting his chin to his hand thinking. So that zubat of his wasn’t his ace most likely- or that they decided not to evolve. 

“Veteran might not be the right word- from the sounds of it we’ve been training as long as you have.” Cheren responded. 

“We’re both from the Unova region by the way! Where are you from?” Rosa asked. She’s definitely energetic, there was even a hop in her step after asking. 

“Oh I love Unova- the best musicals are there” Hazel chuckled. “I’m originally from Alola, but I’ve travelled everywhere.” 

“That’s amazing! From how fancy you dress, I could have sworn you were from Kalos” Rosa giggled. 

“So I presume you’ve made progress with the Grand Trials they have over there?” Cheren asked. 

“Huh? Oh no no- you got it all wrong.” Hazel snorted a laugh. “I’m not a trainer-” 

“Oh?” The two slipped in unison. Especially to Cheren’s confusion. 

“Well I’m definitely a trainer- I have a full team.” He specified. “But I don’t do Grand Trials or Gym Battles and such. I’m a coordinator” He gleamed. 

“Oh- a coordinator! That’s amazing- I’ve only gotten the chance to meet a couple” Rosa clasped her hands together and giggled once more. Hazel could’ve sworn she sounded just like his description of overly optimistic tour guides where it was unsettling, but he got the air that she was genuine so he shouldn’t be off put by that. 

“A coordinator?” Cheren paused and thought for a second. “You guys focus a lot on the performance side of battling and the aesthetics- how do you manage that with your team?” 

“Normally my answer would be- I practice like anyone else, I brainstorm ideas for a routine with my team and we practice dancing and acrobatics- and I instruct my pokemon in battle just as quick-witted as any of you” Hazel listed. “But I assume you’re asking about the blindness.” 

“Sorry if it was rude to ask about it like that-” Rosa spoke up, apologizing for Cheren. Once again clasping her hands, and feeling the heat rise to her face. The last thing she would want to do is upset someone she just met. 

“No no- it’s all good. The more people ask questions about this-” Hazel waved his hand in front of his face emphasizing the obvious. “-the more comfortable people become with it. Long story short, I’ve developed a strong sense of echolocation- and I was able to learn it from zubats and other Pokemon.” He patted Koa once more. “The easiest thing to scope my way around is to snap my fingers.” 

“Wha? I didn’t even know that was possible- that’s amazing!” Rosa cheered. 

“It’s more common than you think-” Hazel smiled. “Well- maybe not for my level- not to brag-” He snorted “I’m kidding- but no, yeah for a couple of blind people they have a loose concept of echolocation. An old friend of mine can tell details of a room just by hitting his cane on the ground really hard.”

“I’ve never heard anything like this before, you’d really have to tell us more. I’m sure the rest of our friends would love to hear how you handle battling as well- since you can’t well-” 

“Since I can’t see my opponents? Yeah that’s a deeper process that I could describe. Don’t worry about awkward questions, it’s fine. Cheren was it?” 

“Ohhh none of our team members are coordinators either so you need to tell us everything!” Rosa nodded again. Her energy to Hazel felt reminiscent of another he knew. 

“Oh and-” She scratched her head “-I suppose you need more than names for proper introductions huh? Did you want to feel our faces?” Rosa insisted. 

“Alright- uh? I know you mean well but it’s actually not really a ‘thing’ for blind people to do that. It’s really just tv shows and movies” Hazel shook his head. 

“Wait really? I never knew that-” Rosa blinked. 

“Yeah no, just having your guys voice gives me enough of a tell about you. In a good way I mean.” Hazel clarified. 

“Well it seems like we have a lot we need to learn from you” Cheren nodded. 

“-and from you guys as well- hm?” Hazel felt Koa shuffling, as he moved his wings and bounced up and down on Hazel’s shoulder. 

_“Zel, remember what we were supposed to do right? Ask questions about team battles!”_

Hazel wasn’t sure if Cheren and Rosa were capable of hearing pokemon, but he suppose that was something they could ask after. They seemed like genuine people and he didn’t suspect them to give him any weird looks for responding back to what might seem like ‘chittering’ to people that lacked a bond to their Pokemon. 

“By the way guys- I was meaning to ask how all this team stuff goes for the PML.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't give a name to that one rude woman because she's just an NPC, but for visuals think of that beauty class trainer with the white sun hat in Pokemon Masters. Also I have a lot of lore for my Pokemon world but I hope it's not confusing. For context, only certain trainers with a bond that treats their Pokemon as an equal are able to communicate with them. If you have that bond with you're Pokemon you're also able to hear other Pokemon speak. Anyways, when I have more time to work on this Hazel is gonna have a fun time talking to Prince Lear next.


End file.
